Did you know that walking, a feat most of us mastered as babies is very healthy for your body? Not just in terms of physical health, but walking is also excellent for your mental health.
Walking is considered to be one of the easiest exercises in terms of the limited amount of strain it places on the body. Walking is kind to tender joints and muscle cartilage. Just about every fitness level accommodates walking. With the exception perhaps of those who become morbidly obese and mobility is diminished, and those of course who have suffered serious injury or who have medical conditions that make walking impossible.
For most of us walking is a part of our everyday existence. We walk to the bathroom to relieve ourselves and to the breakfast table to feed ourselves. We walk around the office while going about our work and walk the malls in search of that perfect skirt. How many of us though, think about how walking is healthy for our bodies?
As already cited, walking is an easy form of exercise that almost everyone can and is doing on a daily basis anyway. Walking keeps the joints and muscles of the body limber so that we can move about with ease and without the stiffness that comes from muscles and joints not being used such as with sedentary lifestyles.
Walking is good for those wanting to lose weight. Walking gets your metabolism going and that in turn burns fat. Walking is especially recommended for those who have a lot of weight to lose and because of their weight may be unable to do other forms of exercise, or their size may lead them injury as a result of more strenuous exercises.
Walking can help to tone and firm stubborn areas such as the thighs, buttocks, and waist, that are hard to tame with just weight loss.
Walking encourages your heart and lungs to work more efficiently. Walking pushes more amounts of oxygen through your lungs and body to help your whole body to function at its best. Walking also encourages the different internal-mechanisms in your body to work together, the more in-sync your whole body is, the better, more energetic you feel.
Regular walking increases the strength of your immune system to ward off germs and bacteria that cause illness.
Walking raises the levels of hormones in the body and this leads to better concentrating, powers of recall, and to more stable moods. The more balanced your hormones through your body, the more balanced you feel.
You can alternate the days between vigorous cardio-workouts with walking a mile or more, to keep your body in shape.
Walking is recommended during pregnancy because it can help build up the strength of muscles used during the birth process. Along with strength, walking increases the resilience from the stretching of muscles.
Walking is wonderful when done with family friends. Share gossip or a favorite recipe with your pal while the two of you steam your way up a hill. Walking will quickly become a favorite family activity if you spend the time walking together as an opportunity to catch-up on what happened in everyone’s day. Or challenge each other to small walk-athons to see who can walk the furthest.
Walking is healthy for the body and in so many ways. After dinner, get out there and take a walk, bring the whole gang along. You can all start to enjoy the benefits of walking this very evening. You and your body will be happier for it.
